Live Green and Earn Points

Recyclebank

Hire a green limo or car service

By Jennifer Spero |
April 05, 2012

Whether you're going to the airport to catch a flight or shuttling to and from your hotel, hire an eco-friendly car service to get you there greener.

Hesitant to rent wheels on your next business trip? Need a lift from the airport? Simply want to be chauffeured around the city for the day or after your wedding reception? Hiring a green limo or car service is an easy, eco-friendly way to travel in style while minding carbon emissions. It also gives you a chance to see the sights while someone keeps his or her eyes on the road for you.

Find it! Green limo, car, and shuttle services

This isn't your parents' white stretch limo. Green car, limo, and shuttle services offer hybrid and biodiesel vehicles to those who need a lift — from the airport, to a meeting, or just around town — but would rather have someone else put the pedal to the metal. Some companies will even chauffeur your wedding, corporate event, funeral, or winery tour.

Hiring a green limo or car service helps you go green because…

When accelerating, a hybrid rental car will run off a battery-charged electric motor, not gasoline, curtailing global-warming-causing tailpipe emissions. With significantly better fuel economy, hybrids can reduce air pollution by as much as 90 percent.[1]

While at a standstill (a common taxi habit), a hybrid's engine shuts itself off and the vehicle runs on electricity. Every two minutes of idling in a standard car consumes the same amount of gas required to drive approximately one mile — a waste of resources and a contributor to smog.[2]

The livery and limo car service industry is one traditionally populated with gas-guzzling luxury vehicles such as the Lincoln Town Car. Compared to the fuel economy of hybrids that hover around 50 mpg, the fuel economy of a standard limo dwindles in the low teens. Aside from decreased fuel costs, a hybrid such as a Toyota Prius costs less to purchase and maintain than a Lincoln Town Car, making hybrid fleets a more viable economic and environmental choice to livery car operators.

Motor transportation is responsible for about one-third of CO2 emissions in the US, with cars and light trucks accounting for a majority.[3] Together, cars, SUVs, and minivans emit more than 300 million tons of carbon each year in the US. These emissions are equivalent to those generated by a 50,000-mile-long coal train — would reach between Washington, DC and Los Angeles 17 times.[4] For every gallon of gas a car burns, it emits nearly 20 pounds of CO2.[5] Thus, a 3,000-mile drive in a vehicle that gets 20 miles per gallon produces 3,000 pounds of CO2. AltAlthough hiring a car service that has a hybrid or other biodiesel-fueled fleet may be a short-lived experience, those miles traveled will help curb these carbon emissions.

Glossary

automotive fuel economy: Fuel economy in cars is important because carbon dioxide emissions are directly related to the amount of fuel burned. "Miles per gallon," or mpg, is the way most Americans measure fuel economy, while other countries may use liters of fuel per 100 km traveled.